Don't know if you have ever read this little story about some young guys driving to Joliet in hopes of winning big on the craps tables.
If you have never been to the Windy City before, I have a funny story to tell you.
We drove through Bloomington and Champaign on our way there, and we stopped to see some friends in both places. We invited them to come with us and do some gambling at the Casino, but they declined.
After we left our buddies, we had some car trouble near Odell when my fan belt decided to retire. Of course we were very disappointed to have our trip go off the rails like that, and we can all relate with car trouble right, but regardless, we were really excited to be out on the road and away from work.
I should point out, that this short story is a cautionary one, and hopefully others can learn from our mistakes - not that most people ever really change their behaviour because of someone else's mistakes.
It was a bad start to a trip we had been talking about taking for over six months. Between Lorne and I, we had a total of three thousand dollars when we cashed our paychecks in Dongola, and by the time we finished paying for the fan belt, labor, our bar tab, food, and hotel, we were down to just over two thousand dollars.
When we finally arrived at the Casino we weren't exactly as excited as we had anticipated we would be when we were dreaming up the trip in the first place.
Both of us needed to freshen up before we went to the Casino, so we just grabbed our keys for the room and went upstairs to crash. We needed a shower and a chance to clean up before we hit the tables.
It seemed that whenever I got lucky and got dealt two face cards, the dealer would get blackjack. Whenever I split two hands, sometimes 3 or 4 hands, the dealer would get blackjack, 21, or 20 - I thought my bad luck had no boundaries. I thought the dealer's good luck had no boundaries She would smirk when she beat me, and she would frown when I beat her!!
By the end of the day Lorne and I had lost ALL of our money gambling, and Lorne had even gone to the ATM and withdrew another five hundred dollars, leaving us feeling like real losers. Talk about your instant deflation of self-esteem.
We went back to our hotel room, drank a bottle of Vodka, silently watched television, and rarely spoke - except to remind ourselves that we had no gas in the tank of the car.
We finally fell asleep at around four in the morning and when we woke up we were hung over, and broke.
We sat in the car for a minute while Mark scrummaged around looking for a cigarette and a lighter.
It was obviously the only recourse we had left at this point, so we looked in a nearby phone booth directory to find out where all the payday loan shops were in Aurora. We found one that was on our way back south, and looked it up on the map. One that was more well known. Preferably we needed a lender that advertised five hundred dollar loans in just minutes.
So we headed down the highway running on fumes. We were in pretty pathetic shape at the time - you know - young and stupid.
We ended up getting completely lost for awhile, but eventually found a town, and the street that the payday loan shops were on.
When we went to work the next Monday all of our buddies asked us how we did up North in the Casino. We told the truth, which made us the butt of the jokes for the entire week. The whole experience was humiliating and left me feeling like a total fool. Furthermore, we were really broke.
Well there you go - two young punks losing all their money in a hurry.
If you have never spent over $3000 on a wild weekend before, then hang on for a tale of two morons. After we left our buddies, we had some car trouble near Odell when my fan belt broke down. This was a major bummer for sure and put a small damper on our mood, cars never seem to break down at the right time do they, but regardless, can't let a simple mechanical breakdown ruin a perfectly wonderful day.
I should point out, that our subject matter today is not exactly "sharp", if you know what I mean, and wouldn't it be great if other kids who think gambling is fun will reconsider - not that it's really all that big of a deal.
And this is how it was - two young bucks waiting it out in Odell and begrudgingly in a position to lose some of gambling money before we had a chance to gamble. It was not exactly what we had planned for when we were cooking up our trip plans. Between Lorne and I, before we left home we had $3000 dollars in Dongola, when the fat lady was singing and we had paid the car repair shop the fan belt, labor, our bar tab, food, and hotel, we were down to just over $2000 dollars.
When we finally arrived at the Casino we were no longer quite as thrilled as we had envisioned we would be when we were dreaming up the trip from the outset. Furthermore, we were very tired from driving, and we were not very happy about the reality that we had already spent up to one thousand dollars.
We both had to clean ourselves up before we even considered heading to the Casino, so we got our room card(s) and went to lay down for awhile.
Whenever I was lucky enough to get two good cards and got dealt two face cards, the dealer stuck it lucky. If I ever to the risk of splitting my cards, sometimes 3 or 4 hands, the dealer fluked out, 21, or 20. I was totally bemused by the my dealer's good cards She would giggle to herself when she squeezed me out, and appeared to be distraught when I beat her! To add insult to injury, the other players at the table were doing pretty good. There was no question about it - this dealer wanted to see me in tears before the night was over!
By the end of the day Lorne and I had somehow been stupid enough to waste all of our money, and Lorne had made the strategic error of withdrawing yet another 500 dollars, leaving us breathless. It was pathetic to watch us both trying to shrug the whole thing off like it was nothing to worry about, the truth was we were feeling very sheepish about it.If there is ever a time to feel like a goof ball, this is it. We went back to our hotel room, and didn't say a single word to each other - with the exception of the odd fart or burb. I gladly fell asleep close to four and when we woke up we were hung over, and broke.
All that was on my mind was how to get some petrol in the tank so we could put this whole ordeal behind us and get home. Reluctantly, we had to press forward with this idea, so we looked in a nearby phone booth directory to find out where all the mini loan stores were in Rockford. We found an outlet that was close by. We needed a company that claimed to provide $500 loans in just minutes.
We then drove out of the Casino parking lot on our way stopping to share a Mcdonalds Egg McMuffin with our last two dollars.
We were scared that we would run out of gas, praying we would have enough fuel to get us to the loan shop and praying we would have enough fuel to get us to a gas station after we grabbed our $500. We looked silly as silly can get - you know - young and stupid.
We got lost because we were in a daze, but that was OK - we did get ourselves in an area where the paycheck loan companies were on.
After we got home, and in the morning of our first day back at work all of our buddies asked us how we did up North in the Casino. We told the truth, which made us the butt of the jokes for the entire week. What bad joke it was. Furthermore, and as well, I was flat broke for a month.
We try to avoid even reminding ourselves of the complete fiasco, and on top of this, we had to pay a huge APR on the money we borrowed.
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